Robot Wars: The Third Wars/Grand Final
The Grand Final of Robot Wars: The Third Wars was the final set of battles which determined the Grand Champion of Robot Wars: The Third Wars. It was fought between the four robots that had progressed through their heats and the Semi-Finals. There were two Grand Final Eliminators to decide which robots would make the Grand Final, in which the robots from Semi-Final 1 would face each other, and the robots from Semi-Final 2 would face each other. These eliminators would be followed by a play-off for third and fourth. Finally, the Grand Champion would be determined in the Grand Final. The episode featuring the Grand Final was originally broadcast on April 21, 2000 on BBC Two. The broadcast managed to attract 4.95 million viewers, a decrease of 400,000 viewers when compared with the previous episode. According to BARB, this meant it ranked third in the top thirty highest rated BBC 2 broadcasts during 17-23 April, behind only Have I Got News for You and Naked Chef. Competing robots Newcomers , qualified from Semi-Final 2) |image= |weight=78.3kg |dimensions=0.25 x 1.26 x 0.74m |clearance=0.02m |power=2 x 750W Electric Motors |weapons=600rpm Rotating Disc |notes=Cost £800 |from=Oxford |team=Dave Rose, Derek Rose, Ken Rose }} , qualified from Semi-Final 2) |image= |weight=78.1kg |dimensions=0.50 x 1.20 x 0.71m |clearance=0.01m |power=2 x 750W Electric Motors |weapons=Pneumatic Lifting Tail |notes=Cost £1,500 |from=Southampton |team=Dan King, Peter Rowe, Rob Heasman }} Veterans , qualified from Semi-Final 1) |image= |weight=77.4kg |dimensions=0.38 x 0.92 x 0.72m |clearance=0.07m |power=Electric Motors |weapons=CO2 Powered Flip Up |notes=Cost £250 |from=Ipswich |team=George Francis, Ian Swann, Richard Swann }} , qualified from Semi-Final 1) |image= |weight=67.9kg |dimensions=0.29 x 0.97 x 0.82m |clearance=0.06m |power=3 x 12V 9AH Batteries |weapons=Flipping Arm, Rear Spike |notes=Main Motor from Lawnmower |from=Durham |team=Graham Bone, Alex Mordue }} Jonathan Pearce Series Recap Before the fights in the Grand Final, Jonathan Pearce took several minutes to showcase an abridged version of Series 3. This would later become a staple of the Grand Final of Series 4, 5 and 6. Not all fights were included, but rather featured Jonathan Pearce giving a lengthy monologue over spliced battle highlights to reveal how the final four robots got to the Grand Final. The fights featured were: *Heat A **Mace 2 vs. Stinger **Mace 2 vs. Weeliwako **Mace 2 vs. Suicidal Tendencies **Suicidal Tendencies vs. Forklift's Revenge *Heat B **Behemoth vs. Shark Attack **Behemoth vs. General Carnage **Pitbull vs. Sumpthing **Pitbull vs. Technophobic **Pitbull vs. Behemoth *Heat C **Razer vs. Backstabber **Aggrobot vs. Razer **Blade vs. Aggrobot *Heat D **Big Brother vs. Sir Chromalot **Ultor vs. Big Brother *Heat E **Chaos 2 vs. Crocodilotron **Chaos 2 vs. Sonic **Chaos 2 vs. The Big Cheese *Heat F **Mortis vs. Ming **Gravedigger vs. The Darke Destroyer - mistakenly identified as taking place before the fight with Mortis. **Gravedigger vs. Mortis *Heat G **Napalm vs. Kater Killer **Napalm vs. Robopig **Steg-O-Saw-Us vs. Napalm *Heat H **Hypno-Disc vs. Robogeddon **Hypno-Disc vs. Stealth **Hypno-Disc vs. Berserk 2 *Heat I **Beast of Bodmin vs. Onslaught **Invertabrat vs. The Witch **Beast of Bodmin vs. Invertabrat *Heat J **Centurion vs. Excalibur **101 vs. Centurion **101 vs. King Buxton *Heat K **Panic Attack vs. Axios **Panic Attack vs. Toe-Cutter **Panic Attack vs. X-Terminator *Heat L **Panzer vs. Undertaker **Evil Weevil vs. Triterobot **Evil Weevil vs. Flip Flop Fly **Panzer vs. Challenger 2 **Evil Weevil vs. Panzer *Heat M **Cassius 2 vs. Dundee **Pussycat vs. Cassius 2 **Scutter's Revenge vs. Thermador **Scutter's Revenge vs. Pussycat *Heat N **Cerberus vs. Killerhurtz **Cerberus vs Griffon **Thing 2 vs. Cerberus *Heat O **Diotoir vs. Sting 2 **Facet vs. Terminal Ferocity **Fire Storm vs. Facet **Fire Storm vs. Diotoir *Heat P **Trident vs. Twn Trwn **Dreadnaut vs. Psychokiller **Trident vs. Victor 2 **Trident vs. Dreadnaut *Semi-Final 1 **Chaos 2 vs. Trident **Chaos 2 vs. Mace 2 **Fire Storm vs. Pitbull **Fire Storm vs. Panic Attack *Semi-Final 2 **Hypno-Disc vs. 101 - mistakenly stated as taking place before the fight with Evil Weevil. **Hypno-Disc vs. Evil Weevil **Steg-O-Saw-Us vs. Gravedigger **Steg-O-Saw-Us vs. Beast of Bodmin Eliminators Chaos 2 vs Fire Storm Chaos 2 immediately attempted to get underneath Fire Storm and flip it, but was initially unsuccessful. The second attempt was more successful though, as Chaos 2 got underneath one of the rear wheels of Fire Storm and flipped it over. Chaos 2 then pushed Fire Storm across the arena to the arena wall and, for the first time in Robot Wars history, the robot was flipped straight out of the arena. Winner: Chaos 2 Hypno-Disc vs Steg-O-Saw-Us Steg-O-Saw-Us got the first attack in, shunting the rear end of Hypno-Disc as it turned. Hypno-Disc's weapon then clipped Steg-O-Saw-Us' front while it reversed, before driving into the side of Steg-O-Saw-Us, causing no notable damage. Hypno-Disc backed away to get its disc back up to speed, but went too close to Matilda. They got away, and were met by a head on charge from Steg-O-Saw-Us, who overshot their drive and went into both Shunt and Matilda's CPZs, before escaping. Hypno-Disc then caught the side of Steg-O-Saw-Us, slicing a gash into it. Steg-O-Saw-Us fought back, shunting Hypno-Disc head on again, with part of the side of Steg-O-Saw-Us being scuffed in the process. Steg-O-Saw-Us rammed itself into the arena wall, and then reversed into Hypno-Disc. Steg-O-Saw-Us forced Hypno-Disc back slightly, with two rams in quick succession, before positioning itself behind Hypno-Disc and driving it across the arena and into the arena wall. Steg-O-Saw-Us continued to press Hypno-Disc against the arena wall, before Hypno-Disc moved away. Steg-O-Saw-Us attacked the Hypno-Disc flywheel head on twice in a row, with Hypno-Disc then slashing open another wound next to Steg-O-Saw-Us' wheel. Steg-O-Saw-Us started to slow down, with Hypno-Disc coming in for another attack down the side of its opponent. Steg-O-Saw-Us was now on its last legs, and desperately tried to defend itself by flicking its rear end tail, as Hypno-Disc caused more damage to the side of Steg-O-Saw-Us. Steg-O-Saw-Us finally managed to regain some form of mobility, but could only reverse themselves into the arena wall. One last attack from Hypno-Disc was enough, and cease was called, confirming Hypno-Disc's victory. Winner: Hypno-Disc Playoff Fire Storm vs Steg-O-Saw-Us The defeated robots were due to battle for third place in the series, but Steg-O-Saw-Us could not compete as the team was unable to repair the damage it had taken from Hypno-Disc in the previous battle. Fire Storm was to take third place by default, but the two teams agreed to share the place instead. Winners (by default): Fire Storm and Steg-O-Saw-Us Final Chaos 2 vs Hypno-Disc The battle started very slowly and neither robot attempted a proper attack in the early stages. Eventually, Chaos 2 attempted to flip Hypno-Disc but did not get underneath and ended up on top of the disc of Hypno-Disc and stopped it from spinning. Hypno-Disc looked very sluggish throughout the battle, which allowed Chaos 2 to position its flipper underneath the spinning disc and flip Hypno-Disc onto its back. With Hypno-Disc unable to self-right, Chaos 2 flipped Matilda and Shunt before the end of the battle. Third Wars Grand Champion: Chaos 2 Special Event Between the eliminator round and the Grand Final during the final episode, the final of the Robotic Soccer cup took place, featuring the winners of each of the matches earlier on in the series. Velocirippa vs Evil Weevil vs The General vs Gnasher Winner: Evil Weevil Trivia *At intervals during the original airing of the televised programme, excerpts of the three nominations for the Battle of the Series were played, as part of a competition for viewers to phone in and vote for their choice, with Jonathan Pearce recapping the prizes available to participants whose choice matched that of the judges. The three battles in order of appearance were Hypno-Disc vs Robogeddon, Chaos 2 vs The Big Cheese and Panic Attack vs X-Terminator. The winning battle, Chaos 2 vs The Big Cheese, was not announced on the televised programme. *During the eliminator between Chaos 2 and Fire Storm, Chaos 2 threw Fire Storm out of the arena, the first time that this had occurred in Robot Wars history. This battle is also ranked equal twentieth in the Shortest Battles in UK Robot Wars. *The second eliminator between Hypno-Disc and Steg-O-Saw-Us also marked the first time that a robot was forced to withdraw from a subsequent battle due to damage sustained in a previous battle. The planned playoff between Steg-O-Saw-Us and Fire Storm did not take place due to the former's withdrawal, with both robots sharing third place as a result. *The Grand Final battle between Chaos 2 and Hypno-Disc marked the second time that the UK Championship was determined by a knockout victory. This outcome would not be repeated again until Series 9. *The Third Wars Grand Final was one of two Grand Finals in which three of the competitors were armed with lifting or flipping weapons. The other was the Series 8 final. *This was the only televised Grand Final in the original series in which none of the competitors had reached the previous series' Grand Final. *All of the Grand Finalists except for Chaos 2 defeated a team captained by a roboteer who had previously won the UK Championship (Evil Weevil, Panic Attack and Beast of Bodmin). **All four Grand Finalists defeated at least one of the previous year's Semi-Finalists en route to the Grand Final. This would be repeated again in Series 5 and 6, though it is the only time to date where all four Grand Finalists were not themselves previous UK Finalists. *Despite Jonathan Pearce saying that one hundred and twenty-eight robots were in Series 3, the accompanying crawl actually listed one hundred and twenty-seven, as Excalibur was excluded from the list for completely unknown reasons. *Three errors were made in the Jonathan Pearce recap. **A clip of Suicidal Tendencies' battle against Forklift's Revenge was shown after its heat final against Mace 2. **Jonathan Pearce said Gravedigger defeated The Darke Destroyer in Round 2 of Heat F and then Mortis in the Heat Final when it was the other way round. **Lastly, he said Hypno-Disc defeated 101 in Round 1 of Semi-Final 2 and then Evil Weevil in Round 2 when it was the other way round. This was corrected later on in the episode. Category:The Third Wars Category:Episodes to have a short battle Category:Episodes to contain an OotA Category:Episodes containing the Series Champion Category:Episodes featuring Soccer